qubes-doc/hardware/system-requirements.md

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System Requirements

Notice: The system requirements on this page are necessary, but not sufficient, for Qubes compatibility at a minimal or recommended level. In other words, just because a computer satisfies these requirements doesn't mean that Qubes will successfully install and run on it. We strongly recommend consulting the Hardware Compatibility List to verify that Qubes can install and run on your specific model in the ways you need it to.

Qubes Release 3.x

Minimum

  • 64-bit Intel or AMD processor (x86_64 aka x64 aka AMD64)
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 32 GB disk space
  • Legacy boot mode (required for R3.0 and earlier; UEFI is supported beginning with R3.1)

Qubes Release 4.x

Minimum

Choosing Hardware

Important Notes

  • Qubes can be installed on systems which do not meet the recommended requirements. Such systems will still offer significant security improvements over traditional operating systems, since things like GUI isolation and kernel protection do not require special hardware.
  • Qubes can be installed on a USB flash drive or external disk, and testing has shown that this works very well. A fast USB 3.0 flash drive is recommended for this. (As a reminder, its capacity must be at least 32 GB.) Simply plug the flash drive into the computer before booting into the Qubes installer from a separate installation medium, choose the flash drive as the target installation disk, and proceed with the installation normally. After Qubes has been installed on the flash drive, it can then be plugged into other computers in order to boot into Qubes. In addition to the convenience of having a portable copy of Qubes, this allows users to test for hardware compatibility on multiple machines (e.g., at a brick-and-mortar computer store) before deciding on which computer to purchase. (See hcl-report for advice on hardware compatibility testing.) Remember to change the devices assigned to your NetVM and USBVM if you move between different machines.
  • Installing Qubes in a virtual machine is not recommended, as it uses its own bare-metal hypervisor (Xen).
  • Macintosh PCs are not currently supported due to keyboard and mouse problems. (See #230 for details. Patches welcome!)
  • Advice on finding a VT-d capable notebook.